Sudan’s National Legislative Assembly speaker El Fateh Izz-Al-Din expelled the chief whip of opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP) during a discussion on election law amendments.
Izz-Al-Din and PCP members fell into heated arguing over who could speak during the discussion.
PCP member Imad Eddin Al Bishri objected to Izz-Al-Din allowing the secretary-general of Islamist Movement Al-Zubair Ahmed Al-Hassan to speak.
The speaker had said that the Conduct of Business Regulation allows only heads of caucuses and committees to voice opinions, and that the National Congress Party is the parliament’s only recognized caucus.
Chief Whip Ismail Hussein responded by telling Izz-Al-Din that the Conduct of Business Regulation is only thing the two men have in common. The comment angered the Izz-Al-Din who ordered security personnel to remove Hussein from the sitting room.
Hussein and other PCP members stormed out before security could follow the order.
“You are not the guardian of the House of Representatives and what is happening now is a farce,” shouted one party member. “You can expel us or jail us, do what you want to do, but we will not accept ourselves to be humiliated.”
Separately, Izz-Al-Din reportedly revoked the membership of the leader of the opposition Reform Now Party Dr. Ghazi Salah al-Din El Atabani, sources told Radio Tamazuj.
El Atabani joined the proposed National Dialogue initiative as an opposition leader, but soon announced his withdrawal saying that the government was not conducting itself genuinely and transparently.
Photo: Parliament building in Khartoum (file photo)